Shadowed Reflections
by ElliotJA
Summary: The mirror universe: A reality where the heroes of the starship Enterprise are the brutal and savage servants of the Terran Empire, spreading fear and tyranny. Set before the events of the episode "Mirror, Mirror", here are several adventures as experienced by that cold-hearted crew.
1. Arena

His ears ringing slightly from the small explosion, Captain James T. Kirk got to his feet with a grunt and peered through the dissipating smoke. He grinned in savage triumph as he saw his Gorn opponent lying groaning in agony on the rocky ground, felled by the shot from his crude - but effective - makeshift cannon. With a laugh, Kirk scrambled over the stones and stood over his wounded reptilian foe. Snatching up the alien's obsidian dagger, he moved in close and snarled "This is what happens to fools who insult the Terran Empire, lizard!", before plunging the jagged point of the weapon into the Gorn's chest, creating a fountain of cold reptile blood. The creature gave a final, agonized hiss...and stiffened in death.

Kirk's triumph was interrupted by the sudden appearance a few feet away of a figure. Kirk started in surprise, not having expected this: A tall, slender youth with light golden hair, wearing only a silver toga that glittered brightly in the sunlight. He looked calmly down at Kirk. "What the hell is this?" Kirk demanded.

The boy responded in a voice as soft as his features. "I represent the Metron Consortium."

Hearing this, Kirk gave a derise laugh. "You're a Metron?" It was hard to believe this figure, who looked like a pleasure slave in an Imperial brothel, was one of the powerful beings that had halted the ISS _Enterprise_ and the Gorn vessel it pursued dead in space, and then transported himself and the Gorn leader to this asteroid to battle in their 'arena.'

The expression on the Metron's face did not change. "Your reaction to my appearance is of no import," he said. "What matters is that you are the victor in this contest."

"That's right, Metron," Kirk told him. "And you promised to return me to my ship if I won, and destroy the Gorn vessel! I demand you keep your word...or do I have to force the issue?"

As Kirk looked up at him, he thought he detected a faint trace of distaste briefly cross the Metron's face. "Your threats are also of no interest, Captain," he told Kirk. "We have power far in advance of anything possessed by your Empire. The Gorn ship, and all on board, will be destroyed...but bring violence into our territory again, and you will share their fate. Now, begone."

In the blink of an eye, Kirk's surroundings changed to something much more familiar and welcome: The bridge of the _Enterprise_. Spock immediately vacated the captain's chair and saluted Kirk, as did the rest of the bridge crew. "Captain, my congratulations on your victory," Spock said. "The Metrons allowed us to observe the fight. You were most ingenious."

"Never mind that now," Kirk responded as he sank gratefully into his chair. "Mister Sulu! What is our status?"

"All ship systems seem normal, Captain," Sulu reported from his station at the helm as he checked his instruments, but then he turned round with an expression of bewilderment on his scarred face. "Only...I can't explain it, sir, but...we've moved five hundred parsecs across space! We're right back in the Cestus system!"

"What!" Kirk exclaimed incredulously. Then it fell into place. "The Metrons...they must have done it!"

Stood beside him, Spock was nodding thoughtfully. "It would appear so. They are clearly an incredibly advanced civilization. We must be careful in any future dealings we may have with them."

"For now, yes," Kirk agreed. "But I'm not in the habit of simply allowing others to meddle in my affairs - or the Empire's! A time will come when we'll show them just how powerful we are. And we won't forget the rest of the Gorn anytime soon either!"


	2. The Devil in the Dark

Janus VI was a cold, depressing world, one whose sole value was in the large amount of minerals to be found there. Minerals needed by the Terran Empire, which had set up the mining facility there using slave labour to obtain. It was a place Captain James Kirk of the Imperial starship _Enterprise_ would happily never have visited, had not recent problems in the vicinity demanded his presence.

When he had first beamed down to the planet, he, Spock and McCoy had met with Chief Supervisor Vanderberg, who told them how the facility had come under attack from some unknown creature in the lower levels, that seared men to a crisp and was apparently immune to the weapons they had. Many of the slaves were refusing to work in the tunnels. It was clear to Kirk that Vanderberg was terrified, not just of the creature, but of a slave revolt and reduced productivity earning him the Empire's wrath. When the creature stole the facility's main circulating pump, it became even more important the monster be found and eliminated.

The brute had already killed one of the security officers sent down from the _Enterprise_ , making it personal for Kirk. He and Spock, in the lower levels themselves, had come close to killing it themselves, but succeeded only in wounding it before the quaking silicon mass managed to flee down one of the tunnels it had burned through the rock.

At Kirk's command, he and Spock had split up, planning on meeting a short distance ahead. Now, walking through the darkness, Spock froze as, from up ahead, his ears detected the sharp, rising screech of a phaser being fired. Snapping open his communicator, Spock barked into it "Captain, do you read? Respond, what is your situation?" There was another, longer blast of phaser fire, and Spock broke into a run.

Rounding a corner, he came within sight of Kirk holstering his phaser. "No panic, Mister Spock," Kirk said when he saw him. "Our devil in the dark won't be giving us any more trouble." Joining his captain, Spock looked a few feet away to where the creature lay, large chunks of its' outer layer blasted away and its' insides severely damaged. It still throbbed, albeit much weaker, fast slowing. At last it was totally still; Spock's tricorder confirmed it was dead.

"May I remind you, Captain," Spock said, "We have yet to locate the stolen pump, and time is shortening."

Kirk nodded toward a round tunnel in the rock wall. "The thing came out of there just before I shot it. We'll wait a few minutes for it to cool, then we'll see what we can find in that direction." At the other end of the tunnel they did indeed find the missing pump...in a chamber containing a large pile of the silicon spheres they had already noticed dotted here and there in the caves beyond, many of them smashed and crushed.

"It is as I suspected," Spock said, holding some shell fragments in his hands. "These spheres are the eggs of the creature we just killed. The miners, breaking in and not realizing what they were, destroyed many of them, which is what drove the mother to attack."

Kirk grimly surveyed the undamaged eggs. "We've seen what these animals are capable of...every last one of these eggs has to be destroyed if normal operations are to resume."

"Perhaps not, Captain," replied Spock. "I think there may be a more...profitable solution."

OOOOOOOO

Sitting on the _Enterprise_ bridge, Kirk listened to Chief Supervisor Vanderberg's voice over the communication system, transmitted from the planet below: " _The eggs are hatching, Captain, and the little devils are already tunnelling. And just like you and Mister Spock said, they've already lead us to vast new caches of progium. The facility's production rate is going to be doubled! Some of us are still a little concerned though, you understand_..."

Kirk grinned. "As long as you don't unduly antagonize the creatures, there shouldn't be any further trouble. And I'm hoping there won't be." His voice lowered. "The Empire won't be pleased with any further disruptions."

He could not see Vanderberg, but he imagined the man shivering. " _I'll make sure everything goes smoothly_ ," Vanderberg said.

"You'd better. _Enterprise_ out." Kirk terminated the transmission and turned to regard Spock. "Well, I'm glad I took your advice, Spock; it seems to have paid off. You really know a good opportunity when you see one!"

"Yes, Captain," Spock murmured softly, his eyes on the starfield on the main viewscreen as the _Enterprise_ left orbit of Janus VI, on its' way to its' next assignment.


End file.
